Gilded Cage
by mabelreid
Summary: One shot Takes place right after "Coda" A cage is still a cage even if it doesn't have bars or gaurds.  Ian Doyle makes sure Emily can't go home to her BAU family or to Reid.


**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n this takes place after "Coda," and goes pretty AU after that. This is an idea I got a few days ago that wouldn't go away. It's a one shot I wanted to post before the new episode tomorrow night. Some reference to a relationship between Reid and Emily_**

"I don't know why I bother with this." Emily said as she held her front door open with one foot and keyed in the alarm with her free hand. "It never makes a difference."

A tiny voice snuffled in response, making her smile despite her sunny prison.

She let her huge, chocolate brown leather bag slide off her arm to the floor next to her entryway table as she passed it on her way to the little sitting room off the hall. She dropped another bag near the white painted wicker coffee table with a glass top. She carefully placed her most precious burden on the table.

Two chairs and a couch, also painted white with light yellows cushions surrounded the table. She pulled one close to the table and reached over to extricate her new daughter from her carrier.

The baby didn't react to her touch, but slept on with a peace Emily envied with all her soul. She smiled down at her beautiful girl. "Hey little one… We're finally home. Do you like it?"

Jennifer Penelope stretched out her little arms in sleep. It didn't seem to matter to her that this was her first morning in her new home.

"You don't care at all… Do you?" She cuddled her close, stroking her fingers through little Jenny's abundant golden brown hair, curly brown hair that reminded her so strongly of Reid her heart ripped in two. "I don't blame you for taking a nap. I'm kind of tired too."

She stood up and carried the baby into her nursery just down the hall to the right of Emily's bedroom. She'd painted this room yellow, as well, with lots of puppies and little rabbits stenciled on the walls. She laid Jenny in her crib with sheets and a blanket that matched the décor of the room.

"Don't worry little one. I'll always be here for you."

She bit down on tears that wanted to fill her eyes. She already cried until her eyes burned while pregnant. It wouldn't do any good to cry now.

She went across the hall to her room done in cool blues like the ocean in springtime. It hadn't changed in the last three days except for the box sitting in the middle of her bed. The ability to walk forward left her as she stared at the box. It hadn't been there when she'd left in the middle of the night after going into labor. Even so, it sat there in the middle of the unmade bed like an accusation.

"Just ignore it."

She couldn't ignore it because she needed a nap and it wouldn't go away if she pretended not to see it.

Her hands shook as she pulled off the top to reveal a small wooden box and a card. The box, carved and polished from rosewood had a green shamrock and an Irish blessing engraved on the top.

_May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go._

It played a melody she didn't recognize. She slammed the box shut, cutting off the music as her stomach rebelled. She managed to keep from throwing up the passable hospital breakfast by sheer force of will.

The card simply said, "Remember…"

_Why couldn't he leave her alone? _

He made sure she stayed in this tiny little cottage, living under a different name that even Garcia couldn't trace. It was her gilded cage, a prison built just for her to live in with her daughter.

_She woke to find her head ached like someone had smashed a fist into her temple. She looked up to see she was alone with Ian Doyle. She reached for her gun, but he just laughed. "Where the hell am I? Tell me why I shouldn't kill you? She demanded very loudly._

_She remembered arriving her home after their confrontation following the case in Louisiana. She didn't remember anything after walking in the door. Now she found herself in a place that she didn't recognize. _

"_Don't be like that darlin,' I told you if you fire that gun you won't live to enjoy the result."_

"_Where am I?" She repeated._

"_This is your new home. I told you I'd take your life and I have. You get to live, but you'll never see your family again." _

_He didn't look smug or happy. Instead, he reminded her of someone that was weary of life. _

"_Ian…" _

_He held up a hand. "You took the only thing that mattered to me Emily Prentiss." _

"_I was doing my job." _

"_I believe you were, but it doesn't matter." _

"_If you think I'm going to stay here, you're crazy." _

_She started to get up only to stop dead as he pulled a gun on her, leveling it at her heart. "Go ahead and kill me." She said proud of her steady voice. _

"_Oh I don't think so. I'm going to make you suffer for the rest of your life. This is your home. You'll find your new driver's license and other documents in that chest over there." He gestured with the gun to a chest of drawers made from pine. _

"_I'm not going to stay here for the rest of my life." She spat out at him. _

"_You will if you want your friends to live. You try to call anyone from your old life and I mean anyone, even your dentist and I'll kill one of them. If you try again, I'll kill another, and another until you accept this is your life." _

_Her heart dropped into her shoes and her stomach began to churn as though she'd eaten rotten meat. "You can't watch me for the rest of my life." _

"_Oh I can darlin… You try leaving or calling anyone you know from your old life and I promise you…" He wagged his finger at her like and angry parent. "Just so you know I'm serious, look at this." _

_He tossed a clipping on her bed. She opened it to see an article on Hotch. Jack Hotchner had gone missing from his apartment home despite security and that Hotch had been in the apartment at the time. _

"_Damn you…." She shouted. _

"_I'd watched my temper if I were you my dear. Promise me you'll be good and I'll make sure the boy gets back to his home safe and sound." _

"_Alright…" She spat at him. "I'll do what you want."_

_He smiled at her and it was like watching the devil himself grin at her. "I knew you'd see it my way." _

She dropped the box back in its package. She'd bury it in the back of her closet. Jenny didn't need to see it. She sighed and thought again of some way to leave her prison. The baby monitor suddenly let her know that her little girl was awake. She hurried into the little nursery and picked up her little girl. Happiness over her beautiful girl warred with black despair that her baby would never know her father. Jenny's eyes finished ripping her soul to pieces. They were the same shape and expressive chocolate brown as the eyes of a man she'd realized too late, that she loved with all her soul.

Ian had kept his word. He'd made sure that Emily knew Jack was returned to his father safe and sound. He also made sure, that so far Hotch never discovered who'd kidnapped his son.

"I'm sorry…" She choked out as Jenny cooed up at her. "I don't know how to make things right."

She took Jenny to the glider rocker in the corner of the room to feed her. "Someday I'll take you home to your daddy. I promise to find a way."

She put her head back on the headrest and looked up at the white ceiling. Ian promised her that her prison wouldn't have bars, or guards or locks. He was right; she could come and go around the little town. She had money he'd somehow transferred to a bank there from her personal and private bank accounts. She had everything she needed and was comfortable. All she had to do was sell her soul to the devil. It may have been gilded, but a cage was still a cage. There was no way out for her or for Jenny. She only hoped her family would forgive her someday.


End file.
